More than 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across China as of Saturday, the National Health Commission (NHC) said Sunday.

China accelerated its pace of free COVID-19 vaccinations for the whole nation since late March. The country hit the landmark figure of 100 million vaccinations on March 27.

The vaccination rate spiraled further to hit 200 million on April 20. The pace of inoculation kept speeding up with 300 million jabs on May 7, 500 million on May 23 and 1 billion on June 19.

At present, the country is conducting clinical trials for 21 COVID-19 vaccine candidates. While four vaccines have been granted conditional marketing approval, three have been authorized for emergency use in the country.

China's nationwide vaccination campaign is open to people aged over 18. The country has also approved the emergency use of domestic inactivated vaccines on people aged 3 to 17. Detailed policies will be formulated for the immunization of this age group based on the specific COVID-19 situation.

By the end of this year, at least 70 percent of the population in the country is expected to be vaccinated against COVID-19, said Zeng Yixin, deputy head of NHC.

The large-scale vaccination campaign carried out across the country has shown that Chinese COVID-19 vaccines are safe, said Zeng, noting that the incidence rates of common side effects caused by the vaccines were well within the international standards. 

Read more: The Great Vaccination of China

（With input from Xinhua）